


One Day That Wall Is Gonna Fall

by Sei_Bellissima



Category: SteamWorld Quest (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father Figures, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I got emotional way too many times while writing this, I'm tired and I just want my favorite characters to be happy damn it, Team Dad Orik, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:07:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24852817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sei_Bellissima/pseuds/Sei_Bellissima
Summary: The twins had lost any chance of having a happy childhood due to circumstances beyond their control. The others, Orik especially, want to see them happy, to see them heal from the wounds they had been unfairly dealt.It’s an uphill battle of trust from here. But it will all be worth it in the end.Rated Teen for mentions of blood
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	One Day That Wall Is Gonna Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Fathers Day! Here I am once again bringing a mushy fic revolving around fatherhood (Good god I can’t believe it’s been three years since I posted that Kirby fic). I wanted to draw something too, but my parents decided today was a good day to do some renovation and of course I helped them… when I wasn’t playing HLD with my little bro at least. So yeah I ran out of time. Oh well
> 
> PS If you know what the title is from congrats you get a virtual cookie :)

Orik hadn’t felt this way in, well… never.

When they had stumbled upon the decrepit, crumbling ruins which were all that had remained of the Cursed City’s orphanage, and the twins told the rest about how the managers would treat them… his heart _ached_. To think they never had a proper childhood… forced into an unfair, torturous job working under mercenaries, on top of the unbecoming way they were treated at the orphanage—their innocence had been torn away from them at such a young age and it was difficult to think about the pain they must have endured. They were could never be described like the bright, bubbly, and playful kids of their age—instead they were cold, distant and on constant high alert. Instead of toys, they played with knives, axes and deadly arcane magic. They had grown up with danger around every corner, forcing them to learn how to be resourceful, how to fend for themselves—something a kid shouldn’t _have_ to learn to be.

Orik wanted things to be better for them. Sure, they were independent now, _but they were still kids_. Growing up without a parental figure in their lives wouldn’t do them any good; it had left its mark already.

He knew he would never be able to fill that hole in their lives, but perhaps he could show them the kindness and care that they had been deprived of for so many years.

* * *

After the Behemoth was defeated, Orik was easily able to find a home in Goosebucket and had bought the property with a moderate fortune he had saved up over the years. He had bought a house of this size with the hope that the twins would stay with him for the time being in mind.

His offer was denied, and it was at that moment that he realized that he had a long road ahead of him.

The twins were independent; a fact that wasn’t that hard to see. So independent that they downright refused not just his offer, but the other’s offers of having them crash at their place while they figured out the housing situation.

It took an annoyingly large amount of prodding (“You aren’t going to sleep on the dirt, are you? A bed would be much cozier.” “It gets pretty chilly around here at night...”) for the twins to finally agree, on one condition: they would shuffle between everyone’s houses until they decided which of them they liked the best—if any at all. They made it clear they weren’t all too pleased about it, though.

* * *

A few nights later, the twins could be found at Orik’s new home. They didn’t hassle him too much and mostly kept to themselves. Orik let them have their space and only came to them for mealtimes and other necessities. He let them pick the room they liked the best, and he pulled out a couple of old cots Galleo generously donated to him (“The twins don’t like my house because I accidentally left a few booby traps laying around and even though I removed them, they still don’t trust me. Here, maybe you’ll have better luck.”)

Little did Orik know, he was about to face his next hurdle in what would be many to earn the twins’ trust.

He awoke to a high-pitched scream coming from down the hall. He bolted out of bed and followed the sound to the guest room, were the twins were sleeping. The scene he stumbled upon only contributed to his concern; Thayne was curled up impossibly tight into himself, paws covering his eyes, ears drooped low. His entire body was shaking like a leaf and Tarah was hugging him close, her face scrunched up. She was whispering small words of comfort to him but she sounded like she was on the verge of tears herself.

Orik tried his best to approach cautiously, but Tarah immediately snapped at him, “Stay away from him!” she growled, gripping her brother’s shoulder’s tighter. Her ears even dropped back, showing that she was deathly serious. Orik pulled back in shock. In response, Tarah raised her eyebrows, her ears perking back up. Orik almost swore he saw some small merit of guilt in her face.

“I’m sorry, I… I just wanted to make sure you two are okay.”

Tarah looked at him for a minute, then buried her face into the spot between Thayne’s neck and shoulder, her ears drooping. “He had a nightmare...” She wrapped her arms tighter around her brother, clearly not intending to let go anytime soon.

Orik sighed; they were siblings; they knew each other better than anyone else—he should probably leave them alone right now… this was something they could work out on their own. Especially if they didn’t want his help now.

Pushing himself to his feet, he turned around and—

“Wait!” Tarah called, and Orik turned back to her and her brother. They were sitting up on the bed now, Thayne rubbing at his eyes while his sister held him by his shoulders. Orik knelt down in front of them.

Tarah was looking to the side, her ears still low. She was clearly mulling over something, but Orik wasn’t going to rush her.

“...We’ve _never_ had anyone show us concern like that whenever we had nightmares.”

Orik’s heart was aching again, that pain lunging around with every pulse—

“I’m sorry, I’m… We’re just used to getting yelled at; I didn’t know how else to react...”

“It’s not your fault you did what you did, Tarah. It’s okay.”

She appeared as if she was overwhelmed by emotion to hear that, pressing her hand up to her mouth.

Thayne on the other hand was looking down at his feet, his body shaking with sniffles.

“Are you all right, Thayne?” Orik asked. He raised a hand to place on the boy’s shoulder, but withdrew when Thayne flinched back a little. He didn’t appear to want any physical comfort from Orik and he was going to respect that.

Eventually, Thayne replied, “I think so...”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

The kid drew his legs up to his chest, shivering. His ears drooped lower. “Not really...”

“That’s okay, then; you don’t have to.”

Orik did not miss the look of surprise on Thayne’s face as he got onto his feet. He stood there for a moment, studying their faces—taking in every scratch, every scar, every emotion…

Tension was slowly filling the room and Orik could sense that Tarah was getting annoyed by his presence, if the way she glared daggers at him was anything to go by. He should probably go. “If you two need anything, I’ll be in my room.”

As he left, he wondered what he had gotten himself into. Whatever it was, it would surely be better at the end of it than it was now, right?

* * *

When Orik closed the door, Thayne sighed and crawled back under the covers, his sister following behind. “You can go to sleep. I’ll stay up for the rest of the night.”

“Thayne, no. You need to rest after that.”

The twins were falling back into old habits yet again, even though they had known their host for quite a while and were pretty sure they were safe with him. Something about the new environment set them on edge—especially after the incident at Galleo’s house. He said he would clean it all up, but still…

Something felt _off_. They were trying to convince themselves that it was just their past trauma speaking to them – _lying to them_ – but their instincts couldn’t be ignored. Was it _truly safe here?_

They would be taking turns staying through the night in everybody’s house until they found out.

“I don’t want to have another dream about _being worked to my limits against my own will_. You sleep,” Thayne said.

“...All right.” His stubbornness could be so set in stone even Tarah couldn’t persuade him sometimes.

She wrapped her arms around his chest, pressed her face into the back of his head and quickly drifted off—despite her anxiety, her exhaustion won her over.

* * *

Orik had seen those signs of sleepless nights gone by many times when he was in the Lux Ultima. The sluggishness, the marks underneath tired optics—a steambot’s eyes would involuntarily shed tears should they not rest for an extended time, in order to provide some form of relief to hurting eyes. The tears would leave stains on their face.

If it got to this point, however, that meant they haven’t rested properly for _weeks_.

This was now what was worrying Orik, as he looked at the twins’ little faces. Their eyes seemed too devoid of life and they had little energy put into their movements—the stains were dark on their face. Guilt gripped at his heart like a hungry vine. Why hadn’t he noticed sooner?

When he questioned Thayne about it, the boy seemed too nervous to answer, to the point that he started shivering from the anxiety. After some more prodding, he simply said, “It’s nothing.”

The vine clutched Orik’s heart tighter. The twins truly didn’t trust them enough to come to them with their problems…

Tarah was snappy; anyone could see it. None of the others were brave enough to approach her, knowing how she was—she was ready to bite the head off of anyone who dared to get in her way. Even more so now…

Orik couldn’t just sit there and let them _suffer_.

He decided to approach Tarah – Thayne had hidden under a blanket by the fireplace, a sign that he didn’t want to be bothered at the moment, as Orik had learned – when Armilly, Copernica and Galleo weren’t around. He didn’t know whether or not that was a wise decision, but he felt as if this situation had to be dealt with in a more private manner.

When questioned, Tarah responded with the expected answer: “Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.”

Orik had sat down on the couch next to her. Tension filled the air like a thick, suffocating smog.

“I am going to be truthful with you, Tarah. Neither you or your brother appear to be ‘fine’.”

“We’re _fine_ , okay?!” Her face was full of fury despite her evident exhaustion. A nearly imperceptible purple glow was coming off of her, yet it was a detail Orik did not miss.

The vine constricted _harder_.

Taking a deep breath, he reached into his robe and pulled out a small mirror he had placed there in anticipation of this conversation.

“I want you to take a good long look at yourself. Tell me if you see the face of someone that looks ‘fine’,” he said, holding the mirror out to her.

She gave him a peeved look and snatched it forcefully from him. Tarah didn’t examine her reflection for more than five seconds before saying, “I look fine.”

“Do you not see what I see, Tarah?” The vine was hard to ignore now, threatening to tear his heart in half. “Don’t you see the stains, the exhaustion, the _heartache_ that I see?”

“No? Have you lost your mind?” She said it so nonchalantly, her face full of snark—Orik was able to see right through her facade, to tell that it was heavily faked. How much was it hurting her to do this, and how much longer would she be able to hold it in before she reached that inevitable breaking point?

Not too much longer, as he was about to find out.

“Tarah, please,” he begged, pouring as much sincerity into his voice as he could. “I only want to help you. What’s troubling you and your brother?”

“ _I don’t know what you’re talking about!_ ” the purple glow radiated off of her like a burning fire, yet it sent a ghastly chill through the room that shook Orik to his core. The iciness snuffed the blazing fire in the hearth, and made Thayne shiver under his blanket—more so from the cold that spread through the room rather than his sister’s wrath.

Her body swaying with her heaving breaths, Tarah collapsed, her head falling right beside his lap. The vine had torn through, the shattered pieces of Orik’s heart lurching in his chest. Sorrow and shock painting his face, he carefully lifted the tired child’s head, shocked to find her face moist with freshly shed tears.

“I’m tired,” she sobbed, her voice small and high-pitched.

“I know, Tarah,” he whispered in a shaky breath. He gingerly lifted her up, positioning her so that she was leaning against him on her side, where he proceeded to slowly and tenderly rub her head—noting the whole time that she didn’t shy away from his touch, or even _struggle_ against him. “I know.”

It took so much for her to at least _admit_ something was wrong, and Orik wished it didn’t have to be so. He could only imagine the pain, the fear, the soul-crushing anxiety they experienced that forced them to hide things away like this.

* * *

The following morning the twins could be found clinging to each other in bed. Orik had come in after seeing that they were awake, equipped with a cloth soaked in a solution that would clean off the stains on their face.

Thayne flinched away, however, when Orik tried to cleanse his face, and Tarah was giving him a look that could kill him, if a glare had the ability to do so. To prove he wasn’t trying to hurt them, he pressed the cloth against his own face, wiping it across his forehead and down his cheek. The twins gave him an unsure look, but Thayne ultimately let Orik use the cloth on him—but he shivered at its cold touch, and Orik’s heart ached at the sight.

“...Do you two want to talk about what happened last night?” Orik asked. Not long after Tarah had broken down, Thayne found the courage to come out of his blanket pile, coming up to Orik with that way-too familiar look of timidity on his face. Orik released the boy’s sister without question and Thayne came up on the couch, hugging Tarah close. Orik had gotten up to rekindle the hearth, and when the fire was blazing again, they had left. They were distressed and needed to be alone with each other at the time and he wasn’t going to bother them.

But he knew _something_ was bothering them. Why else would he be here now, tenderly cleansing away the tear stains that showed their trauma?

Tarah turned onto her side, facing away from Orik, and let out a sigh. “We… haven’t been sleeping properly, but you probably know that. It’s hard to hide things from you.”

Clever girl. The twins were just as perceptive as Orik—but he was trained by the Lux Ultima to be that way. The twins learned to be perceptive themselves due to the environment they grew up in—every little detail, every sound meant something—no doubt they had to learn how to read people as well, to search their face, analyze their voice… figure out their true motives. All just to _survive_.

A shudder swept through Orik, and he fought to smother it. “Why haven’t you two been sleeping properly, if I may ask?”

Orik could see Tarah’s shoulder’s tense. “...We can’t, really. We can’t sleep at night knowing we might not be safe here.”

“But you are safe here,” said Orik.

“Food was hard enough to find on our own,” said Thayne. His voice was strained and raspy. “We couldn’t just accept food from strangers like that; it’s way too dangerous. We’ve experienced food poisoning enough times to know that.”

“It goes even more so for shelter,” Tarah continued, “We can’t really just… stay someplace that belongs to someone else. It can’t be totally safe; it could be booby-trapped or cursed or something.”

“But you two have stayed here for months and nothing bad has happened to you;” Orik pointed out. When he was met with no reply, “All right, what do you think we’ll do to you?”

Tarah bolted up and turned around; she had _snapped._ “Kidnap us? Torture us? Sell us off to people who will only use us for their own personal gain?! It wouldn’t be the first time!” Thayne squirmed under Orik’s touch; he was acutely aware of his sister’s emotions and seemed to be feeling them right along with her, his face contorted into a grimace.

That ache in Orik’s heart returned, and this time, it felt worse than ever. They really didn’t feel safe here and he wasn’t sure what to do. He had already tried to convince them, again and again, that they were safe here, and—

_Calm down, Orik. Getting upset now won’t help anything. What did you do when the Behemoth crushed your arm and you had nearly given up hope?_

_I kept trying._

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Orik mentally prepared himself for whatever was to come and said, “I don’t blame you for thinking that way and I certainly won’t hold it against you. But I can assure you… We’re not going to do any of that to you or your brother. We aren’t going to hurt you.”

The twins stared at him for a moment—they were giving him that look they had when they would scrutinize people, to try to see the heart’s true motive.

In them, Orik saw heartache and confusion, helplessness, despair—and a long, held out hope that they would find their place in life. He could only hope that they could see his sincerity, his desperation to help him.

“We’ve… been so scared that this is just some big, drawn-out trick. We’ve been lied to before; we’ve been given a false sense of security… Putting out full trust in those people never ended well,” Thayne admitted.

“But… you’re not like them,” said Tarah. “It’s hard to explain… you’re more...”

“You’ve been kind to us from the start,” Thayne said. “Both you and the others welcomed us into the group with open arms. We’ve never met anyone like that...”

“Welcoming.” Tarah glanced at her twin, and they shared a nod. “Yeah; that’s it.”

Thayne looked up at Orik, who had momentarily stopped cleaning his face. The child sat up, looking at him with an odd sort of softness in his eyes. That shyness Orik was so used to seeing wasn’t as prominent now, rather, he could make out a scrap of courage, yet at the same time, fear.

Thayne was a lot more open than Tarah, Orik found. He was much quicker to show his emotions, although he could be just as stubborn as his sister when it came to hiding things—case in point, with the way they tried to hide their lack of rest.

But Orik did not expect what came out of the boy’s mouth next.

“Thank you for helping us, and… caring for us...” His shoulders started to tremble. Orik, trying to ignore his restless heart, brushed the back of his hand across Thayne’s cheek, then cupped it with his hand, rubbing a stray tear away with his thumb. Thayne shuddered with a sob and leaned into the touch.

Tarah on the other hand looked like the distraught child she was; her eyes screwed shut as fresh tears poured out, and she buried her face into the pillows, mortified that she was showing weakness in front of someone other than her brother. Orik felt a lump in his throat; he had something on his mind all morning and now seemed the best time to say it, now that tensions had died down.

“I feel that I may have been too hard on you two. You especially, Tarah. I have seen the pain in your hearts and was too eager to make it go away. These kinds of wounds take time to heal and I… I was impatient, to say the least. I am wracked with guilt by the pain I have caused you two and I apologize—though I can understand if that isn’t enough for you two.

“Trusting someone is hard. I’ve experienced it firsthand. But it is not something to be forced. What I’m trying to say is… you two can trust me on your own time. It’s okay. Just remember that you have friends, including me, that love and care for you.”

He had laid Thayne down while he was speaking to finish cleaning his face, and now that he was done, he had pulled the cloth away from the child’s face, inspecting his work. “All done. You look a lot better now.”

Thayne didn’t reply and only settled further into the blankets with a sigh. Orik had been sitting for a while and his knees had gotten stiff—but with some effort he managed to slide off the bed and onto his feet. He walked around the bed slowly so as to not aggravate his tense joints further. Then, he sat down on Tarah’s side, carefully laying a hand on her head. She pulled her ears closer to her head, but she otherwise didn’t respond.

“Tarah? Are you okay?”

She turned to face away from him, looking at Thayne: her brother opened his eyes and glanced at her knowingly.

His face was spotless now, aside from the scratches he’s gained over the years. She traced the spot where one of the stains used to be. She was nearly shocked, his face hadn’t been this clean in _years_. Sure, they’d try to keep proper hygiene with the limited resources they had, but they could never get totally clean; not like this…

Tarah rolled back around, Thayne setting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it in a small form of comfort. She gave Orik a long look, searching for any sign of bad intention in his features.

But Orik’s face was soft, perhaps tinted by sorrow.

Tarah gave a shuddery sigh as what he had just told her echoed through her head.

“ _...remember that you have friends, including me, that love and care for you.”_

“...Friends?” was all she could get out. Did Orik really mean that? Despite how distant and cold she and her brother acted towards him and the others?

“I see you and your brother as my friends, though I understand if the feeling isn’t mutual. You two have been with us for so long and we’ve worked together in battle very well; I won’t lie when I say it’s nice to have you two around.”

“...And you love us?” Thayne continued, doubt clear in the storm of emotions on his face.

“With all my heart.”

Bless his heart, poor Thayne seemed to be so overwhelmed to hear those words—he broke into tears then and there, hugging his sister tightly. Tarah wasn’t so fast to react, avoiding Orik’s gaze—yet, he could see the girl struggling, fighting to keep her tears unshed, and had his heart not already been broken, it would have burst into a million pieces then.

He set the cloth aside and tenderly stroked Tarah’s head, under her ear. “Tarah, it’s okay to cry, I promise.”

“Mmm-mm,” she grunted, hugging her knees to her chest. She was supposed to be tough, hardened and unshakable—the pillar of support her dear little brother could lean on. She couldn’t cry, not now, not when he’s so emotionally exhausted that he can’t do anything but cry—

Orik looked so _distraught_. “Tarah,” he whispered, “I don’t know how long you’ve been holding it in, but it can’t be healthy. Let yourself feel… you can lean on me; you’re safe here.”

He saw _right_ through her and it nearly frustrated her. Tarah couldn’t help the tears and a strangled cry escaped her throat. She was supposed to be a pillar and she was crumbling; she was a useless, weathered pillar that couldn’t do scrap—

Orik laid down on the bed beside the twins, still rubbing Tarah’s head. “That’s it… let it out. You’re okay...”

Gradually her soft sobs evolved into loud, heartbreaking wails, and Orik hugged her close—Thayne joining them and clinging to the opposite side, crying into Orik’s robe. He managed to set his limp arm around the boy’s back—effectively sealing the two broken children in a safe, comforting hug, not willing to let go.

Orik couldn’t keep in his own tears as he thought of how long they had held this in for.

He didn’t really know how long, but he _did_ know that he had conquered a great obstacle that day in gaining the little ones’ trust.

* * *

Orik had lost many things over the years. Friends, family, love, the mobility in his right arm.

The ability to flip pancakes was not one of them.

He had left the twins in bed after they had cried themselves to sleep – which didn’t do any good for his aching heart – and waited a bit before starting to cook. They needed a lot of rest after that—and some good comfort food, too.

The ambrosial smell of cooking pancakes filled up the kitchen and wafted down the hall towards the twins’ room. Thayne was the first to catch scent of it, awakening him from sleep. It wasn’t an instant transition; he laid there in bed, drowsy eyes half-lidded, one ear lazily twitching as he slowly woke up and tried to process his surroundings. He was next to his sister, head under her chin, her arms curled around his body protectively. She was sleeping, but not heavily; Thayne could tell by her trembling ears, listening for sounds of danger.

...That wasn’t necessary now, was it? He was pretty sure they were safe here, that talk they had with Orik earlier cemented that. There was no danger to listen for. Or to look for, really.

That heavenly smell was definitely not dangerous, that was for sure.

Untangling himself from his sister’s hold, Thayne propped himself up on an elbow and rubbed the haze out of his eyes with the other hand. Tarah was already waking up after sensing his movement—the smell furthered the process for her and because she wasn’t sleeping heavily to begin with, she was alert in seconds, eyes wide and ears perked up. “What’s that smell?”

“I dunno, but it smells really good,” Thayne mumbled, the slur of someone who had just woken up still in his voice. He stumbled out of bed after Tarah, and she helped him keep steady on his feet after landing. Holding his hand, she led him out of the room, following the scent to the kitchen—where they found Orik at the wood stove, a plume of steam rising from something in front of him.

It didn’t take long for them to notice the tall stack of thick, fluffy pancakes sitting on the table behind him.

Was that for them? They’ve never seen Orik make pancakes before; usually he gave them a bowl of cooked oats with honey for breakfast. Whatever the case, Tarah was _starving_ and she could really go for one right now.

Back at the orphanage the twins would sometimes steal the managers’ food when they needed some—they were punished often, many times for petty reasons, and they would be deprived of meals, so even if it was unlawful, they wouldn’t starve. It was their first venture into the art of thievery; the first times they tried they got caught, subsequently worsening their punishment. But they eventually figured out how to not get caught, and the skills they learned turned out to be valuable when they struck out on their own.

Would Orik get mad if he found out that Tarah took a pancake? No, he shouldn’t mind, there were a lot of pancakes there… but would he?

Tarah let go of Thayne’s hand to get down on all floors, skittering towards the table. Only one way to find out.

Thayne had finally woken up enough to process his surroundings better—and he realized that Tarah had let go of his hand and was racing towards the mouthwatering pancakes.

“Sis, wait!”

Two things happened: first, Orik jumped and let out a girly scream, his hand—which was holding a large pan—jerking upwards, sending a pancake flying until it met the ceiling, sticking to it like it was glued. Second, Tarah, who was halfway up the table leg, yelped in surprise and fell, landing on her back.

“Tarah, Thayne; you’re awake!”

“Yeah, we just got up,” Thayne replied as he helped his sister up. He noticed just then, Orik was giving the two of them a rather knowing look. He elbowed his sister.

“Yeah, I know,” she whispered to him, then, speaking to Orik at a normal volume: “I wasn’t gonna take one! At least, not without asking!” God, she could feel the warm blush in her cheeks betraying her. She must look pathetic right now.

Orik chuckled, “Sure you were. It’s okay, Tarah, I was making these for you two anyway.” He set the pan aside and grabbed a bottle of maple syrup out of a nearby cabinet. As soon as he pulled it out, he could sense the twins eyeing it up. No wonder, it was an expensive treat that they might have possibly never had. “Have a seat; I’ll dish some for you guys.”

As they climbed into the seats, he fished two plates out of a different cabinet and set them on the table, stacking three big pancakes on them—topping them off with a large drizzle of syrup, smiling as he saw the twins’ eyes light up. It wasn’t that big of a spark, but a spark of life nonetheless. He wanted them to be happy; to live in the moment and just forget the burdens of their past, if only for a little while.

Forks were given, and immediately they dug in. They tried their best to contain themselves, Orik could tell, but it’s been so long since they were treated to something like this, they couldn’t help but scarf it down like they hadn’t had anything to eat in days. It gave Orik a feeling of warmth in his chest, and it wasn’t just joy—it was something else, too. Satisfaction, to a degree? No… he couldn’t place his finger upon it.

Orik just smiled and turned back to the stove, ready to prepare more for the hungry little guests at his table—until the pancake he accidentally flung to the ceiling gave way, landing on his head with a moist flopping noise.

Thayne giggled. It's the first time Orik's heard him laugh with such joy.

* * *

Coming back to Galleo's house was a nerve-wracking experience. Orik had no idea how the twins would react, for one. And with how scatterbrained Galleo was, the possibility that he had forgotten to clean up all the booby traps in the house was bigger than Orik preferred.

Also, the twins were hiding something again. Not too concerning, as far as he could tell, but still cause for worry. Those tired, dim eyes had never brightened over the past few days. They seemed happier, yes, but they didn’t totally bounce back yet, as kid their age ought to.

He was hoping whatever beast they were holding in wouldn’t rear its head until after they left. Armilly, Copernica and Galleo would probably understand; he wasn’t sure about Galleo’s mother—but they were supposed to be enjoying themselves tonight. They could rest, relax, have fun.

As he hoped.

* * *

He didn’t expect to find a small congregation of steambots in the kitchen, mingling and exchanging idle chatter in a rather loud manner. “Mom decided to invite some of her friends over last-minute,” Galleo explained. “She made me make sure I cleaned up all the booby traps, even though I had gotten rid of all of them the other day. So, there’s that, I guess...”

One of Orik’s worries were out of the window, at least—but another one took its place. If they didn’t look uncomfortable before, the twins definitely looked so now.

“Listen,” he had whispered to them, after kneeling down to their eye level. “We don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to. I won’t be disappointed, and I’m sure Galleo will understand.”

The twins exchanged a look—yet another look Orik was familiar with; they were communicating with each other in a silent, concealed way; a way only twins as close to each other as they were could.

“We’re good,” Tarah said after a long moment. “Besides, I kinda wanted to see if frogface followed up on his promise.”

Before he could stop it, an intense blush came over Galleo’s face. He put a hand on it in a feeble attempt to hide it. “I can’t help that I was built like this...”

“And I wanted to see what you built, Galleo,” Thayne said with a small smile. “It sounds exciting!”

At this, Galleo removed his hand from his face, blush fading rapidly. “Oh yeah, that. I have it set up in the back; come see.”

Leading them to the back of the house, he held open a rusty, rickety metal door for them to walk through. Armilly and Copernica were already outside, the former practicing her sword swings against the air. “Don’t you ever take a break from training?” Tarah yelled.

“Good warriors take whatever free time they have to practice!” Armilly replied. Copernica rolled her eyes and gave the newcomers a friendly wave.

Galleo trundled over to a bucket against the wall. “You might want to move, Armilly!”

“Why?” Armilly asked, not even pausing her wild swinging.

“Trust me, you want to get out of the way.” Galleo emptied the contents of the pail – water, by the looks of it – into a large aluminum tank set a few inches away from the wall. He closed the lid on the container and grabbed an odd-looking lever near the bottom of it. “Last chance!”

“I can’t stop now, I’m about to finish this cool maneuver I’ve been practicing for _weeks!_ ”

Galleo shrugged. “Your loss.” With that, he started moving the lever back and forth. Listening closely, the others could hear a splashing noise coming from within the tank, as if the water within was churning and swirling about. A pipe connected to the front that seemingly ran into the ground started vibrating.

Right as Armilly was about to make her big finish, thin beams of water shot out from beneath her and splashed her in the face. She was caught of guard so much that she lost her balance and faceplanted into the long grass, losing her grip on her sword, which landed a few feet away from her head.

Copernica burst into hysterics, Galleo did his big belly laugh—Orik couldn’t hold back a smile. Thayne was giggling and to Orik’s surprise, Tarah was snickering a little, too.

“ _Galleo!_ ” Armilly yelled after getting the grass out of her mouth. “It’s not funny!...Okay, maybe it is a little.”

Galleo stopped pumping the water long enough for Armilly to gather her bearings and get out of the way, her sword dragging pathetically behind her. “I rigged this up so my mom could water the lawn and the garden easier without breaking her back at the well,” said Galleo. “I also used it to water my squash plants. Hope you guys are excited for that by the way; I’ve been working on that recipe for weeks.”

“That is very thoughtful of you, Galleo,” said Orik. Galleo smiled shyly in response, giving little Benji on his shoulder a pat on the head.

“Um, Galleo?”

Everyone was quite astonished to hear the normally timid Thayne speak up. Sensing the eyes on him, he drew his ears down a little, but continued talking anyway. “Can you turn that back on?”

“Sure. I forgot to water the lawn earlier, anyway. It was my turn to do it today.” Galleo started pumping the lever again, the jets of water once again bursting up from the pipes hidden within the long grass.

Tarah, out of all people, was giving her brother a confused look. _What are you doing?_

Thayne just walked up to one of the water jets and put his paw in the water. It splashed all over the place from the impact, including right on his face. He laughed again and withdrew his paw. “Sis, c’mere!”

Tarah did so, her confusion still very much present.

“Put your hand there.”

She did that too, making the water get everywhere like before. It splashed on her face and hood. She pulled her paw back and looked at it. It was soaked.

“Isn’t it fun?”

Slowly, Tarah tilted her head to the side and grinned. “Y’know what? It is.”

Thayne grabbed her by the hand and started running, no particular destination in mind. His main goal? Getting both himself and his sister soaked. And having fun while he was at it!

Copernica balked at the sight. She tiptoed over to Orik and tapped him on the shoulder. “How did you turn those two into bright little sunrays so quickly?” she asked, a playful undertone in her voice.

“I have been giving them pancakes for the past few days...” At Copernica’s smirk, he chuckled and continued, “But seriously, I just… talked with them. They told me about their insecurities, I kind of… worked it out with them. Even I don’t really know what I did. Whatever it was… I think I broke their barriers down some. They’re quicker to trust. They just seem happier in general.”

“Whatever you did, keep on doing it. It’s doing wonders for them; I can tell,” Copernica said, with a genuine smile this time. Orik returned it and turned back to watch the twins.

As far as he can recall, this is the first time he’s seen them enjoy themselves this much.

* * *

The first worrying sign became clear half an hour later, after they had gone inside, both the twins and Armilly now dry and warm as a fire. As dry as they could get, anyway, since they were running on steam.

Orik was dishing himself another helping of Galleo’s grilled squash when he felt a slight tug on his shoulder—he set his fork down to investigate—and to his surprise he found Thayne, pulling on the loose sleeve of his robe. Looking closer, Orik actually found that the child was rubbing the sleeve against his cheek. Orik had his robes made of an expensive, exotic silk that was quite pleasant to the touch; no wonder Thayne liked it so much.

Thayne met his gaze and he stopped, a look of terror on his face. Orik set his plate on the stove and knelt down. “You like how my robe feels? I paid a good amount for the silk it’s made out of.”

The boy’s face softened, but only by a little bit. “You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad? I know I enjoy the feel a lot, too.”

That look of fear was nearly gone from Thayne’s face now, the only remnants of it being hesitance. He rubbed his claws against the fabric, slowly bringing it back up to his face. Once he started pressing his cheek against it, his bliss became very much evident to Orik. But, the elder could also tell something wasn’t quite right; Thayne’s eyes were even duller than earlier, his movements lethargic and clumsy…

“Are you all right, Thayne?”

The boy shrugged. “Kinda tired, but ‘m good.”

There he goes again; hiding things away. At least he was being honest about his energy level though. That was a start, so Orik wasn’t going to press further.

For now.

* * *

It was a mug.

All it took to bring the dinner party to a halt was a mug full of cocoa, hot and steaming in Thayne’s shaking little paws, falling to the stone floor with a shatter.

Thayne yelped in shock and stumbled back, landing on his bottom. He then curled up into himself, hugging his knees as an unnatural look of terror entered his eyes. Tarah’s response was immediate; she knocked the chair she was sitting in over as she sprinted over to her sibling on all fours, grabbing him with that protective grip that Orik had seen not too long ago.

Someone at the table stood up to help clean up, but Copernica also stood up and held her hand up, signaling for them to stay back. Tarah seemed about ready to attack anyone who even so dared to look at her brother. Galleo ran off somewhere. Armilly just stared at the scene, gobsmacked. Orik ignored the still-hot cocoa and ceramic shards on the floor and slowly approached the terrified children, kneeling down as he always did when he talked to them.

“Tarah… I’m not going to hurt him. It’s okay.”

Hearing this, the fierce anger in the girl’s face started to fade, slowly. Orik then noticed the tears rolling down Thayne’s face. “Thayne? What’s wrong?”

“I b-broke it...” His voice was small, and broken.

“It was an accident, little one. No one is mad at you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I know,” Thayne sniffled, “You’re disappointed.” The tears in his voice could not mask his sudden and unexpected anger.

“No, I’m not, Thayne...”

Galleo decided to make his re-entry at that moment, equipped with a broom and a mop. He started to mop up the spill, mumbling something about how his mom went overboard when she scrubbed the floor under his breath.

“See? No one is mad, or even disappointed,” Orik pointed out. “I’m concerned. That’s all. I just want to know if you’re okay.”

More tears welled up in his eyes, and his faceplates quivered. He leaned into his sister’s touch as he finally admitted, “I—I don’t feel good...”

Orik shuffled up to him and pressed his fingers against the boy’s forehead, slowly bringing them down to his cheek, cupping it. His face radiated with heat, a heat abnormal, even for a steambot. Orik internally scolded himself; he should’ve noticed the signs earlier; though the things he did notice started to make sense now, as he connected the dots.

“Thayne, how long have you been sick?”

“Couple days. Tarah’s sick too.”

She looked at Orik with a merit of guilt in her eyes, before looking down at the floor. Then, there was a warm arm wrapping around the two of them.

“C’mon, let’s go home… I’ll make you two more cocoa. Can’t promise that it’ll be as good as Galleo’s but I’ll try my best.”

Knowing their past, it was very unlikely the twins had anyone to take care of them when they were sick. But now they did, and Orik was going to make sure they felt as cared-for and loved as possible.

* * *

The cogres attacked them out of nowhere.

Copernica escaped unscathed, Armilly was a little rough for wear, but otherwise okay. Orik and Galleo were roughed up too, but nothing worse than they faced before.

Tarah took the brunt of it. Thayne was shell-shocked and unresponsive, clinging to his sister’s battered body and shivering. Galleo scooped the two of them up, taking care not to jostle any of Tarah’s injuries as he carried them to a safer place. Looking her over along the way, he figured out that this was no worse than some of the injuries Armilly had received in the past. He would be able to patch them up, no problem, and with the help or Orik’s healing magic it would ease the healing process for her. She might have to get looked at by a doctor for the blunt trauma, though.

What really freaked everyone out was that she was bleeding from the scars in her face—three long claw marks that started on the left side of her face, under her chin, reaching halfway up her face going to the right. She took a pretty nasty hit to her face, sure, but no one knew until now that that was enough to make her old wounds start acting up.

“Y… You’re helping me?” Tarah rasped, coughing up a bit of blood.

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re my friend. So is your brother.” Galleo was blunt; straight to the point. Soon enough he found a shady alcove and set them down, Orik settling beside them. He helped Galleo clean up her face, and wrap some gauze around the bleeding wounds. Galleo started wrapping the bandages around her hand, too—it had been severely scratched and was also bleeding. “This is all I can do for now; until we get back you’ll have to use your healing magic. It’ll help stem the bleeding quicker.”

Orik didn’t have to be told; he had already pressed his hand up to Tarah’s cheek, his hand glowing with the healing aura.

“Tarah...”

She looked up at him, tears welling up in her eyes. “I’m… I’m sorry...”

“What for Tarah?” said Orik in a low voice.

“For bein’ such a jerk...”

“Tarah, you don’t have to apologize. I know you were only trying to protect you and your brother.”

Tarah averted her gaze, sighing. Orik continued, “I just don’t like seeing you two build up these walls around yourselves, walls that are completely unnecessary. And once they get too high...”

“...They fall,” Thayne finished.

Tarah looked back at Orik. The man that had been taking care of her and her brother for the past year, loving them, pouring out his heart for them. Just then, she realized…

“You’re going to be okay, Tarah. I promise.” His voice was barely above a whisper now, but full of love, soft as ever.

Orik moved his hand to her shoulder and pressed a kiss against the bandages, holding her close.

There, secured in her father’s arms, she felt safe.

And she was okay with that.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone’s wondering what the deal with the squash is, an aunt of mine gave me squash plants a little while ago and I discovered today that each of them has a blooming flower, and I can already see some squashes developing. I am REALLY excited about it so I uh, stuck it in here lol  
> But anyhow, happy fathers’ day :)


End file.
